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Cultural area facts for kids

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Standard cross-cultural sample, Africa region
Standard cross-cultural sample, Circum-Mediterannean region
Standard cross-cultural sample, East Eurasia region
Standard cross-cultural sample, Insular-Pacific region
Standard cross-cultural sample, North America region
Standard cross-cultural sample, South America region
From top, clockwise: Africa, Circum-Mediterranean, East Eurasia, South America, North America and Insular-Pacific cultural areas in the Standard cross-cultural sample
Culture-area-Wissler
Clark Wissler's map of Native American cultural areas within the territory of the United States (1948)
Kulturareale
Cultural areas of the world as defined by Whitten and Hunter
AreasCulturais-Africa-Herskovits
Cultural areas of Africa as defined by Melville J. Herskovits
Map-Chinese World
East Asian cultural sphere, areas with historical influence from Chinese culture
Map of Celtic Nations-flag shades
The Celtic nations, homelands of the Celtic languages, can be classed as a cultural region
Ninenations
The Nine Nations of North America

In subjects like anthropology (the study of human societies) and geography (the study of Earth's features), a cultural area is a region where people share similar ways of life. This means they often have similar traditions, languages, and activities. These shared activities are usually connected to a specific group of people who speak the same language or have a common background. A cultural area doesn't always follow the exact borders of a country or state.

How We Got the Idea of Cultural Areas

Early Ideas and Development

The idea of cultural areas began in the late 1800s. Museum curators and ethnologists (people who study cultures) used it to organize their exhibits. They wanted to group similar items and traditions together.

Later, two researchers named Clark Wissler and Alfred Kroeber helped develop this idea further. They believed that cultural areas showed long-lasting ways that cultures were divided.

Debates About Cultural Areas

Some people disagree with the idea of cultural areas. They argue that the way cultures are grouped can be chosen unfairly. However, many other researchers believe that organizing human communities into cultural areas is still very useful. It helps us understand how different groups of people live and interact.

Today, cultural areas are becoming even more important. This is because social scientists are studying how cultures are becoming more connected around the world due to globalization.

Different Kinds of Cultural Regions

Understanding Cultural Cores and Spheres

Researchers have used different terms to describe parts of cultural regions. A "cultural hearth" is like the starting point or origin of a culture. A "cultural core" is the main, strongest part of a cultural area. For example, Donald W. Meinig used this term for the center of Mormon culture.

Outside the core, there's a "domain," which is a wider area where that culture is still very strong. Beyond that is a "sphere," which is an area influenced by the culture but where it might not be the main way of life.

Overlapping Cultures

Cultural "spheres of influence" can sometimes overlap. This means one area might be influenced by more than one culture. Also, large cultures (macrocultures) can include smaller, local cultures within them. The way we define these areas can change depending on what we are looking at. For example, the boundaries might be different if we study religion compared to language or clothing styles.

Cultural Boundaries

What is a Cultural Boundary?

A cultural boundary is a geographic line that separates two different cultures or groups of people. A language border is always a cultural border, because language is a big part of a society's culture. But cultural boundaries can also divide smaller groups within the same language family. This might happen due to subtle differences in traditions or customs.

Historical Examples in Europe

In the history of Europe, some important cultural boundaries include:

Large-Scale Cultural Areas

Very large cultural areas, covering whole continents, are sometimes called "worlds," "spheres," or "civilizations." An example is the Muslim world.

Modern Cultural Divisions

In modern times, a cultural boundary can also be a division between different groups or classes within a single society. For instance, the difference between "blue collar" (manual labor) and "white collar" (office work) jobs can create cultural boundaries.

Special Terms: Cultural Bloc

Understanding Cultural Blocs

The term cultural bloc is used by anthropologists to describe groups of Aboriginal peoples of Australia who are similar in their culture and language. For example, the Western Desert cultural bloc includes many groups in central Australia who speak about 40 similar dialects. Other examples include the Noongar people in southwestern Australia and the Yolngu cultural bloc in Arnhem Land.

Examples of Cultural Areas Around the World

Big Cultural Divisions

  • East–West dichotomy: This is the idea of dividing the world into Western civilization (like Europe and North America) and the Eastern world (like Asia).
  • Global North and Global South: This division broadly refers to differences in wealth and development between countries, with the "North" being generally richer and the "South" being generally poorer.

Geographic Cultural Areas

* East Africa * North Africa (including the Maghreb) * Southern Africa * West Africa

* Caribbean * Central America * Mesoamerica * North America * South America

* Far East * Middle East * Near East

* Melanesia * Micronesia * Polynesia

* Mainland Southeast Asia (Indochina) * Maritime Southeast Asia

Cultural Areas Based on Language Families

Other Cultural Groupings

Cultural Areas Based on Religious Beliefs

Music Areas

A music area is a cultural area defined by the type of music people create and listen to. These areas might not always match other cultural areas. The world can be divided into three large music areas:

* They often use similar musical scales and create music with multiple parts (polyphony) that sound good together.

  • North Africa, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Indonesia and parts of Southern Europe

* Their music often uses smaller steps between notes in their scales and melodies.

* These areas often use scales with five notes (pentatonic scales) or four notes (tetratonic scales), with larger jumps between notes.

See also

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